International Journal of World Research
Print-ISSN: ISSN: 2347 – 937X
December 2013, Issue IXI: Volume: I
Impact Factor: 0.4327
PRE-PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR OF URBAN AND RURAL
CONSUMERS WITH REFERENCE TO TELEVISION
Dr. S. Arulkumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration,
Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai University
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on pre purchase behaviour of consumers in both urban and rural areas.
Paying more attention to relevant factors before deciding the brand such as pre purchase
search, reference group and self opinion in both urban and rural areas is important because
many studies have focused on researching urban consumers buying behavior. The role of
these factors is of high importance because this helps to project the product and is to
influence people.
Keywords: Urban area, Rural area, Pre-purchase search, Reference group, Advertisement
INTRODUCTION
Pre-purchase search is a consumer decision making process in which the consumer
perceives a need and actively seeks out information concerning products that will satisfy that
need. Reviews of the numerous studies of the planning Information search and shopping
behaviors preceding actual durable goods purchases however, conclude that some what
idealized process does not occur. Substantial proposition of the buyers’ report purchases in
which a single brand was considered, one store visited and little or no external information
search was undertaken. Longitudinal studies on purchase plan reported earlier stated that
large numbers of purchase for which no plan was reported during the first wave interview. It
seems that further conceptualization of the process is required to bring out a closer fit
between theory and research findings. Hence the respondents are requested to give their
responses for the importance of pre-purchase information on a 5 point scale.
A person or group that serves as a point of comparison for an individual in the
formation of either general or specific values, attitudes or behaviour so the theory of social
interaction (Homans, 1961; Thibaut and Kelly, 1959) has received attention in buyer
behaviour through reference group influences on buying decisions. Barone et al. (2004)
suggests a possible dual effect of a reference group on the consumer in determining (i) his
goals, and (ii) specific courses of action. The former will be reflected in buying or not buying
a product class, while the latter will influence the type and brand within a product class.
There may be many in the family and outside the family influencing a purchase. In this study
the importance of six categories of people viz., self, spouse, friends and relatives, children,
peers and sales person are taken-up for study.
Attitude toward advertising can be defined as the predisposition to respond in a
favorable or unfavorable manner to a particular advertising stimulus during a particular
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exposure situation (Mackenzie et al. 1986). Previous advertising research has shown that
attitude toward advertising is a good indicator of advertising effectiveness. Shimp (1981) and
Mackenzie et al. (1986) reported that attitude toward advertising is a useful construct that
contributes to explaining the effects of advertising exposure upon consumer brand beliefs,
brand attitude, and purchase intentions. And also many recent researchers also suggested a
substantial and significant relationship between attitude toward advertisement and purchase
intention. So the respondents’ opinion about advertisements is taken up for the study.
Advertising can be classified into two categories: brand building and directional
(Fernandez and Rosen, 2000; Lohse and Rosen, 2001). Brand building advertising is
synonymous with product advertising and is commonly seen in traditional mass media,
including TV, radio, magazine, and newspaper. Brand building advertisements tend to be
product/service- (or retailer-) oriented with the purpose to establish a positive image and
creating demand for a product or service that leads to eventual purchase (Barrow, 1990;
Rosenberg, 1995). The communication route is typically one-to-many and is designed to
reach a mass audience by using a tactic of intrusion aimed at capturing the attention of users.
Directional advertising is designed to help potential buyers to locate interesting information
(Fernandez, 1995). Ducoffe (1996) argues that media context is thought to have an important
influence on the value of advertising. Previous studies also confirmed that advertising placed
in a more credible medium such as a newspaper are perceived as more informative, reliable,
and believable while advertising placed in a less credible medium like TV is considered to be
less informative (Bauer and Greyser, 1968; Becker, Martino, and Towners, 1976; Larkin,
1979). Therefore, consumes attitudes toward the medium is essential. Respondents were
asked to express their view about suitable media for advertisement.
This research purpose would be served if a comparison on consumer behavior could
be conducted between a rich region and a poor one within a developing country. Little
attention has been paid to rural consumers’ buying behavior (Home, 2002) Many studies on
Indian consumer behavior have focused on a particular subset of the entire population,
especially the urban consumers. As India’s rural economy continues to develop and as
multinational corporations (MNCs) expand from urban areas into rural regions, studies of
both rural and urban consumers will also carry significant marketing implications.
It is a myth that a rural consumer usually waits for a seldom visiting buys to his
village to make his trip towards a nearby town to buy ‘branded’ products/services. This
scenario has been changing very rapidly as many domestic and multinational conglomerates
have bringing rural markets in the distribution network map.
Under these circumstances understanding how consumers behave while buying
television product pose a problem. Finding a solution to this problem will help the marketers
to come out with their plans of action, and try to revitalize and renew the products in the
interest of consumers. Also, new products which the consumers require could be introduced
by the marketers.
OBJECTIVES
 To examine the pre-purchase search pattern of urban and rural consumers in the
selection of television.
 To know the respondents importance level of reference group and self opinion
towards purchase.
 To identity the attitudes of respondents towards advertisement and also identify the
respondents preferable media for advertisement.
 To judge the suitable medium for advertisement
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METHODOLOGY
Period of the study
The period of the study is confined to six months that is from Febuary 2012 to July
2012 as that period of study is considerably enough to find out the pre-purchase behaviour of
urban and rural consumers with reference to television.
Product selection
Rural and Urban consumers possess different durable products at home. It is very
important for the researcher to select a popular and essential product for the present study.
The researcher has conducted a pilot study for the selection of products. In this pilot study the
researcher has found out that television is an important and essential durable product presents
at all the homes of rural and urban consumers. Therefore, television has been considered.
Data Collection
The study is descriptive in nature because it explains the cues preferred by urban and
rural consumers. For investigating the research objectives the authors have chosen
questionnaire as primary data source. This is because of intricate research area, hence
questionnaire become natural way of gathering primary data. Items in the research instrument
were developed on the basis of literature review. The questions were framed in such a manner
to elicit the different types of information relating to the buyer behaviour of television in rural
and urban areas.
Questions listed in the questionnaire were pre-tested on a sample of 20 consumers (10
from rural and 10 from urban area). The pre-testing of questionnaires has helped in
modifying some questions. Some of the respondents were happy to reveal their experiences
and sought necessary changes to be incorporated in the questionnaires which has duly done.
The Corn Bach alpha method is used to identify reliability of the questionnaire. It reveal that
88.7% (∞ = .88) of total variance is present for the statement in likerts 5 point scale or 10
point scale. Hence the reality of the statement is significant. Content validity of the tool was
confirmed by discussing with the experts. The final (modified) questionnaire after pre-testing
was used for collecting the data. The questionnaire is translates in their vernacular language
for collecting data from rural consumers.
For the study multistage random sampling method has been used for collecting
necessary primary data. In the first stage, two towns have been randomly selected in the
district. From each town two areas are randomly selected. Finally, from each town twenty
five respondents have been selected randomly.
Rural areas in the same two towns were selected. Then, two blocks have been
randomly selected in a district. From each block, two villages have been randomly selected.
From each village 25 respondents have been selected randomly. A sample size of 100 urban
consumers and 100 rural consumers are selected and they have been requested to exhibit their
responses.
The questionnaire was first developed in English for collecting responses and then
translated in to their vernacular language (Tamil) for understanding and to elicit correct
responses in rural areas and make to sure that both versions carrying same meaning. The
questionnaire was given with a personal request and adequate briefing, to enable the
respondents to understand the contents easily. t- test, Chi-square test, Friedman test and
Kruskal-Wallis test were carried out to study the objectives.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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Pre-purchase search
The consumer may purchase a new television. They may collect sufficient
information about television through past experience, new information search even from
others. The respondents are requested to give their responses for the importance of prepurchase information on a five point scale. The t-test was carried out for the three sources as
mentioned above. The mean values are ranging from 2.99 to 3.30 for urban respondents and
2.41 to 3.93 for rural respondents.
Table 1: Pre-purchase search
Mean Value
t Sources
Urban Rural value
Past Experience
3.04
3.56 -4.54
New information Search
3.30
3.93 -5.72
Information through others 2.99
2.41 5.25
Source: Primary data
* Significant at one percent level
PValue
0.001*
0.001*
0.001*
It is inferred that new information search is considered very important for both urban
and rural respondents in the purchase of television. It also inferred that past experience and
new information search is important for rural respondents and information through others is
important for urban respondent. It can be concluded that information search pattern is varies
across urban and rural areas.
Importance to Reference Group and self opinion in Purchase
Table 2 shows the respondents views about importance of reference group opinion in
purchase. Six important members’ opinions were taken in to consideration. It is necessary to
find out whose opinion has major impact on purchase decision. The mean values obtained
from the respondents ranged between 2.81 and 3.57. From the mean values, it is found that
spouse decision is more important for taking purchase decision (3.57), followed by self
decision (3.52) and children’s opinion (3.40). Friedman test is applied to test whether the
opinion of people vary among the reference groups.
Ho: 1 Respondents importance about reference group and self opinions are similar.
Table 2: Importance to reference group and self opinions
Sl.
No
Opinions
peoples
1
Spouse
3.57
1.31 3.98
2
3
1.53 3.99
1.22 3.77
5
Self
3.52
Children’s
3.40
Friends
&
2.98
Relatives
Peers
2.81
6
Sales person
1.23 3.11
4
of
Mean SD
2.91
Friedman’s test value Multiple
and significance
Comparison Test
Mean
rank
1,2
79.98
p<0.001
1.22 3.17
1.11 2.98
3
4
5,6
Source: Primary data
* Significant at one percent level
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From the result of the Friedman’s test the importance attached to various references
differ significantly at one percent level. It can be concluded that importance attached to
opinion of people varies. Friedman Multiple Comparison test was used to identify the rank of
importance to their opinion. First level of importance is given to spouse and self opinion.
Second level of importance is given to children’s opinion. Third level of importance is given
to friends and relatives opinion and fourth level of importance is given to peers and sales
person opinion.
Further an attempt has been made to identify the difference in the opinion of groups
based on weightage. Kruskal-Wallis test is applied to know the difference the areas with
regard to opinion of people.
Table 3: Area wise Analysis of Reference Group and Self Opinion
Urban
Rural
Kruskal
Opinions
Value
Mean SD Mean SD
Self
Spouse
2.70
1.56 4.36
0.940 135.544*
3.04
1.46 4.11
0.85
67.987*
2.78
1.25 3.17
1.17
13.962*
3.27
1.18 3.52
1.24
6.998*
2.91
1.12 2.70
1.10
4.859**
Sales Person 3.22
1.15 2.60
1.24
35.238*
Friends&
Relatives
Children’s
Peers
Source: Primary Data
* Significant at one percent level
** Significant at Five percent level
Ho: 2 Importance level of reference group in purchase are similar in both areas
Comparing the mean values it is observed that people of rural areas give more
importance to self compared to urban buyers. Importance levels of spouse vary significantly
between the two areas. In rural areas consumers give more importance to children. In rural
areas people may have reservation with outsiders like peers, whereas in urban more
importance are given to peers and sales persons opinion.
Attitude of respondents towards advertisements
Attitude toward advertising can be defined as the predisposition to respond in a
favorable or unfavorable manner to a particular advertising stimulus during a particular
exposure situation (Mackenzie et al. 1986). Previous advertising research has shown that
attitude toward advertising is a good indicator of advertising effectiveness. Shimp (1981) and
Mackenzie et al. (1986) reported that attitude toward advertising is a useful construct that
contributes to explaining the effects of advertising exposure upon consumer brand beliefs,
brand attitude, and purchase intentions. Brown and Stayman (1992) also suggested a
substantial and significant relationship between attitude toward ad and purchase intention.
Table 4 shows opinion of respondents about the advertisement. The calculated means
values are ranging from (2.38) to (4.17). From the mean value it is revealed that the outcome
of advertising increases sales (4.17), increases the brand image is the opinion of the majority
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of the respondents: is the second level opinion (3.91) and gives product information is the
least positive attitude (3.84).
Table 4: Opinion of Respondents towards Advertisements
Friedman’s
test Multiple
Mean
Sl.
Statements
Mean SD
value
and Comparison
Rank
No.
Significance
Test
1.
Advertisement
increases the brand 3.9103 .9801 4.32
2
image
2.
Advertisement
4.1657 .7793 4.64
increases the sales
1
3.
Advertisement result
3.2943 1.0667 3.47
in price hike
75.140*
4
4.
Advertisement gives
3.8363 .9904 4.14 <0.001
product information
3
5.
Advertisement
2.5107 1.0516 2.29
exploits public
6.
Advertisement
5,6
exploits
women 2.3879 1.0494 2.15
flock
Source: Primary data
*Significant at one percent level
H0: 3 Respondents opinions towards advertisements are similar
Friedman’s test was performed to rank the respondents opinion about advertisements.
From the Friedman’s calculated value 995.140 and P-value is 0.001 there is significant
variation among the respondents view about advertisement. Hence, the hypothesis is rejected.
Further, Friedman multiple comparison test was used to find how people perceive
advertisement. By computing, the six statements have been grouped in to five categories.
The opinion about advertisement is: Advertisement increases sales is the first
category; it increases brand image is second; advertisement gives product information is in
the third category; advertisement results in price hike is the fourth level of opinion; and
advertisement exploits public and exploits women flock is in the fifth category. Over all
respondents have positive attitude towards advertisement.
Further Kruskal test was carried out to identify the areas differ significantly regard to
opinion of advertisements between the two areas.
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Table 5: Respondents Opinion about Advertisements across Areas
Urban
Rural
Kruskal
Statements
value
Mean SD
Mean SD
Advertisement increases the
1.533
3.8178 1.1061 4.0039 0.8253
brand image
(NS)
2
Advertisement increases the sales 4.0543 0.8490 4.2784 0.6851 8.651**
3
Advertisement result in price hike
1.186
3.3566 1.0196 3.2314 1.1107
(NS)
4
Advertisement gives product
0.547
3.8101 1.0052 3.8627 0.9765
information
(NS)
5
Advertisement exploits public
2.6938 1.1849 2.3255 0.8603 12.584*
6
Advertisement exploits women
2.5155 1.0740 2.2588 1.0096 12.584**
flock
Source: Primary Data
* Significant at one percent level **Significant at five percent level, NS- Not Significant
Sl.
No.
1
Ho: 4 Respondents opinions are similar in all areas
In case of advertisement increases brand name both rural and urban respondents have
same opinion. In case of advisement result in price hike also there is no significant variation
among the respondents in both areas. The difference exists in the statements are
advertisement increase sales and it gives product information also. With regard to
advertisement exploits public and advertisement exploits women folk are also differ
significantly based on areas. Rural people belief is more that advertisement increase sales.
Urban people expressed that through advertisement marketers exploit public and women.
Suitable Media for Advertisement
Respondents were asked to express their view about suitable media for advertisement.
The frequency distribution explains the opinion of respondents regarding suitable media for
advertisement.
Table 6: Suitable Media for Advertisement
Area
Media
Total Chi square DF P-value
Urban Rural
Television 62
59
121
18.020
3
0.001*
Radio
13
0
13
26
45
News paper 19
15
21
Magazines 6
100
100
200
Total
Source: Primary data
* Significant at one percent level
From the table 6 it is inferred that in both areas electronic media is preferable by the
respondents. Advertisement through radio is less preferred by respondents of urban areas. It
is also found that rural consumers prefer print media, whereas urban consumers prefer
electronic media. An attempt has been made to found out if there is any association between
media preference with areas.
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Ho: 5 The opinion about of media preference for advertisement is similar in both
areas.
Chi-square test was employed to test the hypothesis. The test value is 18.020 and the
P-value is 0.001. Hence null hypothesis is rejected at one per cent level. It can be concluded
that there is significant difference between suitability of media in both areas. The difference
exists in the preference for magazine. Urban people prefer magazines and not so by rural
respondents.
SUGGESTIONS
 Marketers’ frame appropriate advertisement campaign to increase their sales.
 Advertisements’ major role is to create awareness. Information focus need not be
given importance especially for durable products. It must be attractive and develop
brand image.
 Marketers to select television and print media for promotion of television in urban and
rural areas.
 Respondents’ opinion towards advertisement varies across urban and rural areas. So
marketers and advertisers have to design a different campaign strategy to attract
different areas.
CONCLUSION
The result shows that rural and urban consumers, are different in terms of their
attitudes toward, product promotions (e.g. through mass media advertising), pre purchase
search, reference group and self opinion.
A rural-urban regional segmentation approach with different product, communication
and distribution strategies is a key for marketers to succeed in this giant nation with emerging
and maturing urban markets and, promising and relatively untapped rural markets. By
identifying and describing different groups of urban and rural consumers the result can
provide guidance for marketers, who often have to do business with in margins. Many trading
areas are relatively isolated. As such, marketers have to rely on their local population for
survival. In order to remain successful in business marketers need to better understand the
shopping behavior of urban and rural consumers.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
This study points out the influences, suitable media for advertisement and preferred
promotional strategies. This will enable the business community to sustain in the market with
suitable modifications. It also gives a very useful advice for marketers and advertisers to
select the right type of retail outlets and media to reach urban and rural consumers. Television
and Print media have good potential for promotion.
SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
The area of urban and rural consumer behaviour is enormous, and most topics are
important as they are interesting; many topics for further research can be mentioned.
Further studies on each variable may also be undertaken in-depth, for instance, a
study could be undertaken to explore the different pre-purchase information search pattern
between two population segments.
There is scope to conduct a comparative study to identify differences in the consumer
behaviour between durable and non-durable products.
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Understanding consumer behaviour to different market place environment is an
important issue in marketing. Research may also be undertaken to examine behaviour across
shopping environment, the in-store and the (non-store) online, impulse buying, etc can be
compared.
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